Santa Monica College Faculty Association

Representative Assembly Meeting

September 29, 2005

Present : Maria Alvarado ,Vini Angel, Barbara Baird, Fariba Bolandhemat, Espy Bolivar-Owen, Sara Brewer, Alan Buckley, Sandi Burnett, Lydia Canalita, Brandon Ceballos, Fran Chandler, Elizabeth Chavez, Tom Chen, Steve Contarsy, Becky Curtis, Gwen Dophna, Gail Edinger, Tracey Ellis, Kathy Flynn, Dennis Frisch, Peter Geltner, Martin Goldstein, Pierre Goueth, Julie Greenfield, Patricia Halliday, Christian Hart, John Kennedy, Richard Lavallee, Fran Manion, Ken Mason, Kym McBride, Walter Meyer, Joan Mills, Mitra Moassessi, Julie Morgan, Launa Nelson, Brenda Ness, Jeffrey O'Connell, Eric Oifer, Ernie Padilla, Pauli Peter, David Phillips, Kathryn Pope, Brian Rodas, Michael Schwartz, Jacqueline Scott, Lantz Simpson, Linda Sinclair, Eleanor Singleton, Leon Singleton, James Smith, Howard Stahl, Michael Strathearn, Kathy Sucher, Sumy Takesue, Joy Tucker.

Absent : Lee Axelrod, Fletcher Beasley, Sharon Bell, Ken Buckner, Susie Chapman, Ronn Davis, Don Emery, Claudia Garcia, Carolyn Holmes, Emily Lodmer, Suzanne McDonald, Colleen McGraw, Melissa Michelson, Juan Quevedo, Ruth SanPietro, Elisha Shapiro, Peter Sheridan, Rita Soshnik, Steve Soucy, Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein, Robert Tyler, William Van Benschoten, Sal Veas, Bob Ware, David Wu.

Guests : Janet Harclerode, Betty Wong, Amber Katherine, Nathalie Laille, Georgia Farber, Ava Gawronski, Jo Kidd.

Excused : Troy Cardenas, Jim Pacchioli, Toni Randall, David Zehr.

•  Approval of the Minutes - June 2, 2005 and September 15, 2005

M/S: Frisch/McBride. Approved as corrected.

•  President's Report – Lantz Simpson

-Senate President Richard Tahvildaran chaired the most recent DPAC meeting.

-Representatives are encouraged to attend the FACCC Conference, although the conference hotel (Cathedral Hills Hotel) is being boycotted by SEIU, so there is some question as to whether the conference will proceed at that venue. The Faculty Association will keep membership informed of any resolution of this issue.

•  Benefits Committee Report – Sandi Burnett

The Benefits Forum, September 22 nd , was well-attended. There will be another forum in November. Sandi reminded us that there is not—at this time—an MOU regarding an incentive plan to move from PERSCare to PERSChoice. The Benefits Committee website is located at http://www.smc.edu/health_benefits

•  Sixty Percent Law Resolution – Martin Goldstein

M/S: McBride/Curtis. Passed unanimously.

•  Membership Committee Report – Kathy Sucher

Downloadable materials regarding the District's contract proposal are now posted on the SMCFA website at http://www.smcfa.org/fair_contract_now and include a comparison chart, model letters to the Board of Trustees and campus colleagues, and a flyer detailing actions all faculty should take before the October 10 th Board of Trustees meeting.

•  Negotiations Report – Mitra Moassessi

Chief Negotiator Mitra Moassessi outlined the District's package proposal in comparison with the Faculty Association's (FA) positions. In addition to the information on the handout, Mitra highlighted several additional points in the District's proposal:

•  Part-Time Faculty Retirement:

FA proposes making the Cash Balance option available to adjunct faculty.

District – Yes, but the options would be defined by the District.

•  Part-time Faculty Hiring

FA – Part-time faculty should receive preference in the full-time hiring process by being advanced to the interview process.

District – no

•  Intersession Teaching

FA -- A 5 unit class taught in the intersession should be paid at 15% of contract pay.

District – no

Mitra provided some additional factual context for consideration of the District's proposal in the form of a chart outlining the schools projected full-time hiring obligation:

SMC's Full-Time Hiring Obligation.*

*The California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 5, Section 51025 requires community college districts to increase their base number of full-time faculty over the prior year in proportion to the amount of growth funds received for credit FTES. (See Chancellor's Office .)

**Projected Obligation will be lower than current number of full-time faculty, so no full-time faculty will be need to be hired for some time into the future. By cutting classes and decreasing the number of students, SMC's full-time hiring obligation has been significantly reduced.

The Board has received a copy of the District's proposal; the Board of Trustees has not given the District any direction. The Board has responded that the District has--up until now--insisted that “negotiations were still in process.” We need to put pressure on the Board via email, phone, and mail. We need to inform our colleagues to do the same.

MOTION: The Representative Assembly authorizes the Negotiating Council to initiate job actions if there is not significant movement after the October 10 th , 2005 Board of Trustees meeting.

M/S: Chandler/McBride. Passed unanimously.

VII. For the Good of the Order